More Past Winners and Finalists

2016

Feature Winner

Mona. Richy. Robby. And Ray by Oreathia C. SmithA black woman will not allow another black woman to attend her white church.

Feature Finalists

In the Cradle of Granite by Jonathan HolmesWhen a young girl discovers the corpse of a notorious outlaw, her father must strike a deal with the stranger bringing the body to justice. Miles from civilization in the harsh Oregon frontier, together the two men will discover a bounty is always best earned alone.

Amara, 15 by Hannah Leshaw Amara, 15 (formerly Hijita de Papá) is a coming-of-age feature about a 15-year-old Bronx teenager who is desperate to escape her father’s sexual abuse but who will do anything to leave her two little sisters behind.

Dog by Conall PendergastA mute drifter and a lonely night clerk must face their deepest fears when confronted by a mysterious man in a patchwork dog mask at a remote, rundown motel.

Death of An Ortolan by Justin Piasecki A disgraced White House chef is discovered decades later preparing meals for prisoners on death row, but he risks a chance at redemption when he befriends an inmate whose guilt appears doubtful.

Short Screenplay Winner

Apart by Elizabeth CapotA woman wakes up to find that she is literally falling apart again.

Short Screenplay Finalists

I Sleep Easy by Tess CarrollA young girl demonstrates her method of appeasing the yellow-eyed beast that haunts her town.

When We Run by Nikki Tran Saigon, 1978. A young girl learns the meaning of sacrifice during an impromptu escape out of Vietnam.

Changelings by Nic YuloStruggling to keep his dysfunctional family afloat, a teenage boy challenges his immature father by threatening to ruin a family tradition.

Joplin Award Winner (Best International)

Parody by Chad J. Nelson & Alexander EllerstonAfter a chance encounter with his identical twin’s mistress, a curious psychologist begins to unravel a web of deceit leading to fatal consequences.

Cordelia Award Winner (Best UK)

Title IX by Haydn FoxAs a couple’s marriage heads towards a disastrous end, the story reflects on the events that brought them to the present

Roshan Winner (Best of India)

Deepest, Darkest or How Not to Lie by Paras S. BorgohainWhen a public relations executive discovers a note from her deceased best friend, she must find the trigger for his untimely death – revealing his long-distance relationship with a man, while confronting her own fears of unrequited love.

2015

Winner

Mouth by Kimi Howl LeeWhen a broke Fem-studies major with an unwanted pregnancy assumes an alias and delves into a transactional relationship with an affluent family man, she must masquerade as a suburban trophy wife while finishing her degree––before her dual identity is unveiled.

Finalists

Scriptures and Cigarettes by Joseph O’DriscollAfter a near-death experience, a devout Mormon teenager experiments with the outside world for the first time, risking his relationship with his family and community.

i by Alex Rollins BergAfter a flash flood kills his father, destroys the family farm and leaves him to support his younger brothers, a poor but enterprising teenager sets off to Kuala Lumpur for an iPhone factory job, only to get caught up in the lives of the fabulously wealthy American factory owners.

The Anxieties of Peter Wilhelm by Palmer HoltonWhen Peter Wilhelm’s adulterous daydreams creep too close towards becoming reality, he finds himself being whisked away to a rehab facility for sex addiction, only to become part of a radical new procedure that promises to make him fall in love with his wife again… or drive him insane.

Taking the Toll – The Life and Life of Gilbert Booth by Theodore Schaefer & Patrick LawlerA young toll booth operator falls for a woman at his father’s nursing home but soon discovers that it’s her 99-year-old grandmother who may be more in tune to his eccentric philosophies, including time travel and his imaginary friend.

Cordelia Award Winner

Butter Side Up by Kitty PercyWhen a hopelessly unlucky smalltime criminal kidnaps a celebrity by mistake, he finds his luck starting to change in unexpected ways.

Joplin Award Winner

George! by Leonardo Noboru de LimaAn unhappy family man faces another level of his mundane existence when he wakes up to find himself inhabiting a sitcom version of his life.

2014

Winner

3 Faces of Hunger & Thirst by HF CrumThe true story of the assassination of a revolutionary Mexican presidential candidate unfolds from the original standoff of three gunmen in Tijuana.

Finalists

Bad House by Doug MalletteHoping for a fresh start, a desperate father moves his estranged wife and kids into a mysterious new house, where he soon discovers the horror of the perfect family.

Chicago Shuffle by Dennis CappsA mild-mannered Prohibition-era accountant has a chance meeting with the twin brother he never knew he had, a brash Chicago gangster, but when he wakes up trapped in his brother’s identity, he’s forced to find himself as he fights to return to his old life.

Hambone by Kateland BrownSet against the illegal dogfighting scene in Los Angeles, a gangbanger sentenced to community service at an animal shelter forms a bond with an abused pit bill scheduled to be euthanized.

The History of Magic by José Luis GonzálezA degenerated traveling Mexican magician and his teenage niece find themselves on the same path of life as he approaches her home in a Texas border town.

Cordelia Award Winner

Face to Face by Jason PittockA cosmetic surgeon’s life starts to unpick at the seams after he accidentally ruins the face of a celebrity client.

Joplin Award Winner

The Longest Birthday by Savion EinsteinWhen a clinical trial in Israel fails to treat her young son’s cancer, a single mother takes him back home to Los Angeles to celebrate one more time.

2013

Winner

Demain, Je Me Tue by Pierre ChanceIn Tokyo, four strangers in life find a bond in death.

Finalists

A Cat’s Tale by Kendal Alexander WhitlockYeo, a senior citizen security guard stuck in a perpetual state of mourning his wife and son, meets a neighbor girl and soon finds himself in the middle of a Singaporean underworld, attempting to expose the murderer of the girl’s cat.

Dead Dolores by Michael YagnowAs a grieving frontier sheriff succumbs to madness, his unseasoned deputy is forced to confront a pile of corpses and a troubled young barber who possesses an unnatural and homicidal obsession with the suitors of his gorgeous twin sister.

Giants of the Valley by Bryce Wolfgang JoinerTheodore Tuttleberg, once the tallest man on earth, forms a bond with a morbidly obese recluse whom he saves from death, but when he seeks to make him famous he almost kills the soul of his one true friend.

We Lost Grace by Michael QuintanaOn the eve of their anniversary, while still coping with the death of their next-door neighbor, a married couple tries to adjust to their daughter’s return home, and the truths they learn along the way.

Cordelia Award Winner

Knock-Out by Christopher BrownA young boxer must take his fight outside the ring when the guys he trains with discovers the truth about his sexuality.

Joplin Award Winner

Hand Lit Match by Rachael BernSousa & Mary LustedA teenage tomboy escapes her dead-end Australian country town by joining a visiting sideshow as a wrestler – then sets her sights on the top of the American female league in the 1950′s.

2012

Winner

The Emperor of Wyoming by Michael HamblinThe fractured and dysfunctional family of an Idaho mortician and struggling author falls apart – and comes together – as he and his estranged son grapple with the moral and ethical implications of a bizarre mission from God, delivered by way of a talking corpse. Dark yet whimsical, tragic while infused with awkward hilarity, The Emperor of Wyoming is a heartwarming, fascinating meditation on familial love, bus theft, murder, and the importance of butterflies.

Finalists

Mallpocalypse by Ashleigh PowellA down-on-her-luck nail salon employee is happy making the world a better place one pedicure at a time, until a near-death experience awakens within her strange supernatural abilities, and she suddenly becomes part of a giant battle of Good vs. Evil… played out in a shopping mall.

The Hosanna Tree by Anthony EastonA tale of good versus evil set against the desolate backdrop of Dust Bowl era Oklahoma.

The Prime Mover by Alex EylarA young man witnesses a glitch in time itself and becomes a target of the individuals tasked with protecting the system the world relies on.

Untitled Sarah Palin Sex Doll Project by Zeke FarrowWhen the last virgin in high school creates a fake girlfriend on Facebook as part of an elaborate scheme to get a real one, the woman whose pictures he stole shows up and his fiction becomes a reality.

Cordelia Award Winner

Life In A Box by Nick LuddingtonA young man struggling with the death of his girlfriend unwittingly commits suicide, condemning himself to purgatory. Now in a world where memories are all that is left, his desire for life is renewed and a desperate fight to escape begins.

Joplin Award Winner

Random Acts of Violence by Guy McDouallA quarantined pacifist fights to help find a cure for the fits of murderous rage he and other test subjects have become afflicted with.

2011

Electric Town by Tony MullenIn the heart of Tokyo, an old man gets more than he bargained for when he turns to a robotic pet to relieve his grief.

Horse Girl by Jacob Gillman and Matt DieblerAn unpopular and sexually naive 12-year-old engages in a downward spiral of unintentionally perverse get-rich-quick schemes in order to obtain the horse of her dreams.

I Want My Car You Son of a Bitch by William RyanWhen the wealthy boss of nearly retired personal assistant, Toni Fratzki, dies, she’s left to clean up the mess of his troubled teenage son’s illegal affairs and discovers the last chance of belonging to a family she might have.

Talk of Mifton by Cime BruceA young girl who dreams of escaping her suffocatingly small town the day after her eighteenth birthday is injured in an accident that leaves her without the ability to talk or move. Now she must use her new gift on her caregivers if she is to continue to live.

2010

Winner

Below the Waist by Ian SimpsonVanessa, a brilliant, introverted 16-year old, must go to aberrant lengths in order to learn how to ‘feel’ again after a car accident at the hands of her best friend leaves her permanently paralyzed below the waist.

Finalists

A Novel Approach to Suicide by Brien KellyA used bookstore owner searches for answers after noticing eerie correlations between his life and the unusual book he is reading.

Pisser by Eric HueberCramped in a Winnebago with a violent stepfather and a loving yet self-destructive mother, a child struggles to live down his nickname – Pisser.

The Penitent Man by Jason GeorgeAlfred Booth awakes from a nightmare and discovers his heart has been stolen from his body. He embarks on a night-time journey to find it.

The Physicist by Teresa LoAfter moving from San Francisco to Kansas during the 1980s, a Chinese-American family must learn to adapt to small-town life.

Cordelia Award Winner

Tilford by Steve RuttleyA widow and her young son give refuge to a wounded government witness after discovering he’s testifying against the underworld figure that tore their family apart.

Joplin Award Winner

One Night in Asbury Park by Maurizio MarmorsteinA local teenage girl with nothing and nowhere to go meets a visiting foreign student in a rockin’, early 60’s dance hall. Their love clashes with the lethal rage of a jealous boyfriend.

2009

Winner

GLADLY MCGEE AND THE DAMN RETARDED F***** by Jerry MahoneyTwo actors forge an unlikely friendship while playing offensive stock characters in the 1940s, then experience the ups and downs of Hollywood as it changes over the next 40 years.

Finalists

Death Rattle by Chad BrianForced to kill a drug-sniffing dog, Nat Carter runs afoul of the Drieser brothers, making the dog the least of his problems.

Death and Taxes by Peter K. Hassan & Elisabeth Silverman HassanA Las Vegas IRS agent must hunt down his deadbeat dad, forcing him to descend into a nightmarish underworld of half-man, half-insect creatures and confront the past he tried to forget.

Honky’s Ladder by Lonas TaylorAt the height of Prohibition, an alcoholic federal agent works undercover to bring down Black Legion bootleggers.

Two Rabbits by Mario de la Garza & Carlos de la GarzaTwo cowhands toil on a remote south Texas ranch when they find a mysterious old man lost in the brush; as campfires crackle and coyotes howl, the old man talks of buried treasure but instead unearths the cowhands’ deepest fears and stages their doom.

2008

Winner

THE PIANO TUNER by Timo E. PeltonenIn 1943 Germany, where trust has collapsed and fear burns brightly, a piano tuner investigates the mystery of a war widow’s son disappearing from his room.

Finalists

The Language of Leaves by Michael J. ElseyA young boy with a distant father and a grieving mother awakens his creativity with the help of his hip artist aunt, the pass or fail science fair and the mystery of leaves.

El Flaco by Jeff SeymannEL FLACO is a gritty coming of age drama about a Chicano teenagers rebellion against his beloved father who harbors illegal immigrants.

Past Mistakes by Maria MathisWhen a vengeful spirit threatens a young man’s life, he delves into past-life regression to locate a missing treasure to appease it.

The Italian Lover by Suzanne GriffinA passionate Welsh opera singer haunted by his past discovers the deeper purpose of his voice when he becomes the mentor of a mysterious young soprano.

The Yellow Canary by John-Michael BisterTwo apathetic brothers and their offbeat godfather are reunited with estranged relatives; a comically dysfunctional and beautifully ragtag family is formed.

2007

Winner

The Stones by Ana Lily AmirpourIn modern-day Tehran, a teenage girl from the working class falls for an upper-class boy. As a forbidden relationship ensues, she finds out the hard way what happens when rules are broken in a merciless society.

Finalists

Every time I go to Staten Island something bad happens… by Irin EversWhen a Latino ex-gang member finds an identity in the Manhattan art school world, his brother’s criminal life proves to be a deadly distraction.

Howard & Minet by Doyle Esch & Daniel Wilson

Kid Show by Chad HolleyAgainst his better judgment, an uptight children’s performer enlists a winsome ne’er-do-well to help spice up his act.

Loved Ones by Vicki SpeegleA young girl chasing adulthood struggles to win the love of her alcoholic mother but finds her quest complicated when her estranged half-sister returns.

2006

Winner

Hyung’s Overture by Young KimThe oldest son of a Korean immigrant family leaves Harvard to manage a Bronx convenience store in order for his younger brother to fulfill his destiny as a world-class violinist.

Finalists

Another You by Gail Mackenzie-SmithIn 1965, a twelve-year-old Nancy Drew aficionado watches the perfect Los Angeles summer unravel when her knight in shining armor, a doting older brother, starts the long spiral into schizophrenia.

Beard’s Creek by Maureen TilyouWhen three children find a murdered woman in the dreamy perils of the swamps of 1950’s Georgia, the daydreams of their latchkey lives fracture horrifyingly into the reality of an actual killer, their older sister’s new beau.

Diana by Myra Sito VelasquezWithin the frenzied, culturally schizophrenic world of 1970’s Tokyo, a Catholic schoolgirl, wanting fiercely to be a boy, falls for the sadomasochistic sexual charms of a newly arrived student named Diana.

Hush by Eric HumbleHunted for a string of gruesome murders through a Wisconsin blizzard, an ex-con chases a patch of redemption in a wasted life while stranded in a remote farmhouse with strangers and one thing left to do.

Salt by David SteenhoekIn a mythic effort to reclaim his bride and castle, a salt mine worker leads his comrades in life insurance neo-fraud against a diabolical, pregnant stripper.

Stone Groove by Thomas Jackson PotterSet against the black biker clubs of the 1970’s, two mismatched outlaws flee Detroit for the myth of California, hysterically pursued cross-country by the absurd detritus of Mafioso, psychopathic madams, and toxic law enforcement.

2005

Winner

Gary the Tennis Coach by Andrew Stock and Rick StempsonAn ethically challenged Rod Laver worshipper moonlighting as a custodian finds himself in charge of the high school tennis team, only to throw down the singularly most unorthodox coaching performance in the history of the game.

Finalists

Donnie’s Brother by Jim BeggarlyWith his parents buckling under the pressure of an impending tragedy, a high school basketball star hatches a getaway with an odd convenience store clerk named Donnie, to start over with his brother out of state, a brother who the entire town claims is not alive.

Panacea by Aaron GuzikowskiWhen a tiny statue a boy has found in the woods apparently awakens his comatose father, his mother sets out to heal the world, one person at a time, until she slowly realizes each and every cure has a disturbing cost.

The Break-In by Ryan David JahnAfter a man kills a burglar in self-defense, he elects to leave the body in his bathtub, setting out on an obsessive hunt to discover the identity of his victim, who happens to be his identical twin.

Holy Hell by Francis ZuccarelloA tail-spinning, sexual triangle between two Catholic priests and the owner of a Hell’s Kitchen speakeasy implodes over Ash Wednesday 1930 against the backdrop of a violent transit worker strike, when suddenly, quite out of nowhere, they bear witness to a miracle.

2004

Winner

The Man in the Rear View Mirror by Andrew Pagana and Justin ThomasThe story of a man, his wife and mother-in-law in pursuit of a suspected kidnapper on the Eisenhower highways of the 1950’s brilliantly recalls the Hitchcock classic, Rear Window, at 90 miles an hour.

Finalists

Georgie by Kathy GarciaA spoiled, talented, and oh-so-popular Orange County high school girl’s life is turned upside-down when she’s caught kissing a girl.

The Imperfect Cell by Lance HammerA 65-year-old waiter, languishing in a life of lonely self-interment, is befriended by a vibrant, young composer, who brings comfort, rejuvenation, and, ultimately, upheaval to the elder’s tedious life.

In the Lives of Brothers by Kelsey SimonWhen a salt miner assumes care for his mentally-impaired brother, he finds the painful echo of a tragic day from their childhood increasingly debilitating.

Sparkle La Rue by Allan TyamoAfter an infamous pop diva hits rock bottom, she resurfaces as a drag queen in San Francisco, rediscovering herself as a celebrity impersonator, impersonating herself.

2003

Winner

Escher by Jon Goldman

Finalists

Survival of the Fittest by Carl BergetzBlaring Static by Jason Wilder KonschakThis Time by Robert D. Walsh

2000

1999

Winner

Angela’s Gate by Monika Moreno

Finalists

Majesty by Russell BouthillerCarnage by Christian DivineThe Colony by Bill Gucwa and Ed MastersonDog Soldiers by Rob HunterSamaria by Gary L. MinerDivided Waters by Anita SclarHalloween Candy by Thomas M. Sipos4 Ahau by George TaackThe End of the Night by Brian Weaver